ANST - Question...

[Raymond Catz]

> Here is another little quandry... There have been occasions when I have
> known of members of the Chivalric Order to be most unchivalric. The 
> order has been fully aware of at lease some of these, and rarely,
> if ever, does anything about it. This reflects very poorly on the
> bulk of members that are chivalrous. Chivalry would seem to me to be
> at least as important as the ability to bonk somebody on the noggin in
> the makeup of a Knight. Perhaps repeated improper behavor should result
> in the loosing of rank? Especially of the Peerages?

At the risk of opening up a can of worms, it looks to me as if you are
confusing the concept of chivarly with that of courtesy.  They are related,
but not at all the same thing.
 
> (PS: I am just an observer... not a peer, and not at all sure I
> want to be one!)

Ok, so you aren't sure that you want to be a peer because some of the peers
don't always live up to our ideals.  I suppose that's your business, but I
would suggest that it's an attitude about guaranteed to keep you in the
background.  (Truth to tell, I can recall having felt that way myself
once.)  

Ideals are exactly that - Ideals.  Without them, we would have no moral
compass.  However, as I have found occasion to say before, ideals are and
ought to be difficult or impossible to truly attain.  They are indicators
of the direction in which we should be striving.  The struggle itself is
probably endless.  This is what makes them ideals.  An ideal easily
attained is hollow indeed.

You have put your finger on the problem that there are some who have lost
their way or that never really got it in the first place.  The mere fact
that such people exist should not discourage you from seeking your own path
to the ideal.  A peer, in my estimation, is one who walks the path and
leads the way, whether or not anyone seems to be following at any given
moment.

Besides, If it weren't for those who stray from that path, how would we
know where our own path is?

						Jeremy
============================================================================
Go to http://lists.ansteorra.org/lists.html to perform mailing list tasks.